A media release from the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (VCHA) today confirms they will be expanding residential care capacity within the region. According to VCHA they have “…signed agreements for a new residential care facility in Vancouver and an expansion to an existing one.”
An addition will be added to a BCCPA member care home – Point Grey Private Hospital located on Cornwall Avenue. Point Grey Private Hospital will be adding 58 publicly funded beds for VCH plus another 26 private-pay beds. The completion date is set for the summer of 2018.
In South Vancouver, the iconic Casa Mia Mansion will be preserved, with an addition for residents connected to the main house. Casa Mia Care Centre will have 87 beds—58 publicly funded beds for VCH and 29 private-pay beds. The project would require rezoning by the City of Vancouver. Completion, subject to rezoning, is anticipated for late 2019.
“This additional investment to expand residential care in the Vancouver region is a good move,” says Daniel Fontaine, CEO for the BC Care Providers Association (BCCPA). “There is a real need in Vancouver to renew older care homes in order to enhance the delivery of top quality care and produce better health outcomes,” says Fontaine.
“This is a significant step in meeting the care needs of Vancouver residents,” says Laura Case, Chief Operating Officer, VCH-Coastal Community of Care. “These care homes will enhance residents’ privacy and the experience of care by offering single rooms, private washrooms, more activity space and better access for wheelchairs.”
These two projects are part of a larger 10-year rejuvenation strategy across Vancouver Coastal Health. It follows a rigorous process to replace several hundred beds in residential care centres that no longer fully meet resident needs, and to significantly increase the number of beds in communities that currently don’t have an adequate supply for the population they serve.
To date, Vancouver Coastal Health has signed agreements for about 600 beds in new and expanded facilities, and an additional 300 beds are planned over the next several years across VCH.
“The expansion of residential care capacity in neighbourhoods like the west side of Vancouver is incredibly important if we are going to allow seniors to age in place,” says Fontaine. “I’m hopeful that the health authority, care home operators and the city can work together in partnership to provide access to these new beds as soon as possible.”
Click here to read an interview with Fontaine conducted by the Vancouver Sun and published in their June 3rd print edition.
